YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and having videos on it can be great for business. PowerPoint is a handy tool many use for presentations that also allows you to export slides to video. Combining the two by making a YouTube video from PowerPoint is an easy way to create video content to share.
In this article, I’ll walk you through a simple step-by-step process to make a professional YouTube video using PowerPoint.
Step 1: Plan Your Video
Before jumping into PowerPoint, take some time to plan out your video.
- What is the topic and purpose of your video?
- Who is your target audience?
- What key information do you need to share?
- How long should the final video be? No more than 10 minutes is best.
Outline a script to help guide your slides and narration. Make it conversational as if presenting to an audience.
Having a plan will make putting together your PowerPoint and video much easier.
Step 2: Create Your PowerPoint
Now open PowerPoint to design your slides.
- Keep slides simple – Use minimal text and more images/graphics to engage viewers
- Number of slides – Allow about 1 minute per slide for a 10 minute video
- Font size – Use at least 30 point font so text is readable when exported
- Consistent design – Use the same theme, font styles, colors throughout
Also add helpful slide animations and transitions. But don’t go overboard as too much movement can be distracting.
Spend time making professional, high-quality slides. This effort will pay off with a better quality final video.
Step 3: Add Narration
Once your slides are complete, it’s time to add narration. This can be done directly in PowerPoint.
- Rehearse your script to get comfortable with your flow and pacing
- When ready, select “Record Slide Show” under the “Slide Show” tab
- Check the microphone levels and begin speaking through your script as you advance the slides
- Feel free to pause and restart as needed until you complete clean narration for each slide
Your voice guiding the slides is what will really engage viewers and bring your presentation to life. So speak clearly and smoothly.
Step 4: Export Video
After completing clean narration for all slides, you’re ready to export your presentation to video format.
Under the “File” menu in PowerPoint:
- Select “Export” then “Create a Video”
- Choose a quality 1080p HD resolution
- Select a MP4 file format
- Choose a file save location like your desktop
- Click export
The export process will prepare your file and then save your PowerPoint as a high-quality MP4 video ready to upload to YouTube.
Be sure to choose a clear file name you will recognize for the video.
Step 5: Upload to YouTube
The last step is to upload your PowerPoint video to YouTube.
- Go to YouTube.com and sign-in
- Click the camera icon to “Upload Video”
- Select your PowerPoint video file you exported
- Fill out title, description, tags, playlist info
- Click Upload!
YouTube will now process and prepare your video which may take some time depending on the length. But soon your PowerPoint video will be live on YouTube!
Promote Your Video
With your video now complete and online, you need to promote it to drive viewers.
- Share video link on your website, social media, email newsletter
- Create an eye-catching custom thumbnail and title
- Use keywords in title, description and tags so people can find it in YouTube search
- Interact with comments and ask viewers to like, share and subscribe
Promoting your content is key to succeed on YouTube and get more eyes on the helpful videos you create.
